NCJ Number
224875
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 19 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2008 Pages: 397-413
Date Published
December 2008
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study assessed the use of political symbols by political parties through the party platforms published each presidential election cycle.
Abstract
Results found that political parties engage in symbolic rhetoric in their political party platforms, much like presidential candidates and presidents sitting in office have been found to use symbolic language when addressing the issue of crime. Beginning with the 1964 presidential campaign and solidifying in 1968, when all political party platforms had a section dedicated to crime-related issues, crime has become a modern staple of the political party platforms. This suggests that not only have the presidents been complicit in the federalization of crime in the United States, but so too have the political parties, both Democratic and Republican. Studying the use of crime by the political parties provides some insight into the process by which crime has developed as a significant political issue for the Federal Government. When political parties take strong positions on crime, a responsibility that was traditionally the sole purview of the States, it demonstrates that they are advocating a larger role for the Federal Government in crime control policy. Further criminal justice research into this dynamic is important for understanding how the national political process has come to engage in crime policy in the modern United States. Data were collected from digital transcripts of the political party platforms for the American Presidency Project and the American Reference Library. Tables, references